Level Three. That is SO me.

Level Three – That is SO me.

By Michelle Lloyd.

It was the seasonal time for transition.  The colder month had arrived and an announcement was made by New One’s mum that appropriate coats would have to be bought.

Generally New One would not mind an announcement of that kind but going out to buy apparel such as outerwear was not a favourite experience for him.  He knew what would happen, it happened each time without fail and this latest update for the purpose of his outing was not particularly pleasant.

Out to the store they went and New One could be heard complaining about it for most of the way.  Did he have to?  Could he not make do with the coat he had from before?  Did he really have to go?  Could his mum not just choose something suitable for him?  No, was the response to all the questions and that was how New One found himself waiting in amongst a heavily piled up mountain of coats and being told to keep quiet while his mum put out an array of coats for him…

It could not be too heavy, or too thin, it had to have enough room for him to grow into and be not too large… the requirements went on and so did the ticking by of the minutes as New One stood there watching his mum choose coats and more coats off the rails for him to try on.

On and on it went for New One and to be honest all he could think about was not coats but what else he could have been doing at that moment in time.  Playing on any of his games, roughing and toughing it out with Lana his pet pooch, seeing his two friends Little Herbert or R V and when even homework started to become appealing he knew that he had been waiting far too long in the coat store.

Had she finished?  New One asked his mum, and no came the response.  The last coat had seemed fine to him but he was informed that it had too short an arm on him and that it was not plush enough to keep him snuggly for the season.  It had started to get to New One and on closing his eyes all he could see were coats coming at him, far from friendly coats that seemed intent on smothering him from head to toe.

It was too far for New One to go and he said in the firmest voice he could that he thought they should choose the next coat that came to hand.  New One’s mum gave him a look.  It was not a happy look.  The coat trial continued…

After what seemed an absolute age to New One a coat was decided on.  It had seemed exactly alike every other coat he had tried on previously but his mum seemed super pleased with it and having got to the end of his ordeal he was happy to accept it as the coat for him.  While they had been there he had overheard several people talking about the coats and different accessories they had tried on and they all seemed really rather happy about it.  That is SO me!  Shrieks could be heard, laughter was shared and many people seemed so pleased by what they took out the store with them.  How anything could be New One and make him that happy he could not understand.  It was not like he was getting a game, a coat was certainly not something he thought of as SO him.

Having gone for an after coat trial snack, New One was happy to see his friend Little Herbert out with his dad and his granddad.  Inventor Granddad was someone New One loved to see as he had such intrepid stories to tell them.  Having settled down, while New One’s mum and Little Herbert’s dad caught up, granddad regaled them with his story about when he had gone to get his first coat.

It had been a lot for Little Herbert and New One to understand because unlike them when Granddad had gone to get his coat from a store he had been really pleased about it.  Up to that time it had been all about what was handed down from people who had grown out of them and coats had been mended and given to the children in the family as and when they needed them.  Granddad had gotten his brother’s coat to wear and it had been far from a pleasurable time because every time he wore it he would be told about each mark on it and how his brother had ended up making them.  Suffice to say, the coat never really felt like his.  It had been explained that if Granddad wanted to go out and buy a coat of his own he would have to earn towards it and that if he could then he would be allowed to go out and get a coat of his choice.

Little Herbert and New One listened as Granddad told them about how he had seen a coat that a man had worn in many a type of movie posters, it made him look dashing, charming and at the time he had felt like if he had that coat he could do almost anything.  New One could practically sense the need to own it as Granddad told him about that coat and all of a sudden he found himself appreciating his own wrapped around him that bit more.  Granddad had set his heart on that coat, he had worked so hard to get it with after school jobs, extra work around the house and after a lot of effort he had enough to put towards it.  The day came when a twelve year old Granddad was taken to the store and far from a coat trial it was the addition that he knew was SO him.  He had held on to that coat through thick and thin, it was what he had been wearing when he saw an infamous win at a special sport’s match, when he went on his first holiday to see his grandparents in another part of the country, what he had on when he had his first crush and shared his first kiss.

While neither Little Herbert or New One could appreciate the first kiss part, everything else had sounded SO them and being taken to get a coat without having to do any of the work that Granddad had been made to do seemed fortunate indeed.  New One left with a different sense about his coat and the warm reminder of all the experiences he could have in it made him think about it as SO him.